Lakes area utilities host electric vehicle event in Detroit Lakes

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Lakes area utility providers hosted an electric vehicle event at First Lutheran Church in Detroit Lakes on Saturday.

Event attendees were able check out and ask questions about more than a half-dozen electric vehicles, including: an EV Hummer, Ford F-150 Lightning, Tesla Model Y, a Ford Mustang Mach-E, and a Chevrolet Bolt, among others.

Vernell Roberts, general manager for Detroit Lakes Public Utilities, said he was able to test a Ford F-150 Lightning this February over some of the coldest days of the winter to see how the pickup would react to frigid lakes area temperatures.

“I had this outside and it was 25-below and I brought it into my garage and warmed it up to about 40 degrees on ambience, so it was just above zero in my garage and I plugged it into a 110V outlet,” said Roberts, during a KDLM Facebook Live video. “I conditioned the batteries and I gained about 60 miles of range just by bringing it inside and plugging it into a 110V outlet. So once you understand that, you can kind of plan your trip and plan your day a little bit better and, if it’s pre-conditioned, you are going to be good to go.”

Roberts also said the range of the battery can vary depending on the driving conditions, location and other vehicle economy features being used.

“You will lose some mileage, there’s no doubt,” he said. “Right now, it says 317 (miles), in the real world, that’s probably 265-270 miles given you want to run air conditioning, wind and other things. And that’s going down the interstate at speed, 55-60 mph, I’m pretty sure we’ll get 300 miles.”

Roberts also demonstrated the acceleration of the Ford Lightning during a test drive with KDLM Morning Show Host Joel Koetke, who noticed the truck must’ve gotten to 70 mph in about 4 seconds.

Currently, there are two electric vehicle charging stations on Holmes Street, near Lakes Liquor, but the city has plans to add two additional charging stations at a proposed trailhead to the Heartland Trail, near East Shore Drive.